Iowa Stories

From its very earliest days, under the Articles of Confederation that preceded the adoption of the Constitution, the United States government lay down some important guidelines for settlement of western lands beyond the original thirteen states on the Atlantic Coast.  In the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, the Congress declared that western lands would be under the authority of the Federal government, not westward extensions of the existing states.  According to policy, before American settlement could advance into a region, resident Indian tribe had to give it up by treaty and the l

In the summer and fall of 1918 a deadly and contagious form of influenza spread across the globe infecting millions.

When the Black Hawk Purchase opened a triangle of fertile land in eastern Iowa to white settlement, the surge was on into what would become the first free state carved from the Louisiana Purchase.  The first census was taken in 1836 and already recorded 10,531 American settlers.  Only two years later, an 1838 tabulation more than doubled the previous figure with 22,589.  The numbers continued to grow exponentially.  In 1840, it was 43,112.  As two new tracts of Indian lands in central Iowa were opened for settlement, the numbers soared.

The United States maintained a policy of neutrality following the outbreak of European war in August 1914. Germany’s sinking of neutral ships carrying cargo to Great Britain led to diplomatic tension with the United States throughout 1915 and 1916.

On July 19, 1892, Congress authorized the construction of “one sea-going coast-line battleship, designed to carry the heaviest armor and most powerful ordnance.”  It was designated Battleship Number 4 (BB-4), USS Iowa. 

Willetta Strahan, who came to Muscatine in 1929 to become the first dean of the new junior college, had a passion for learning, and she was not passive in providing opportunities for others to learn. In 1963 when the college finally got its own building, it was named for her.

The ideal proclaimed by the Declaration of Independence in 1776 that “all men are created equal” has remained just that: an ideal. It has inspired men and women of all races, religions, and genders here and abroad to push for full political equality, but it has never been fully implemented.  African-Americans and Native Americans were not included, and it was almost a century and a half after the United States began its bold experiment with democracy before women were allowed to vote for their elected representatives.

Before he became the celebrated lawman…before he fought at the infamous OK Corral….Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp lived on and off for 14 years in the small Iowa town of Pella.